It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Summer

The windows are open. Birds are chirping. Kids are laughing or crying from scooter mishaps. One of my arms is sunburned from sitting just right while sipping coffee outside with a friend. It is finally happening!

When I moved to Minneapolis in January, every Minnesotan assured me that the area is “not always like this” as though the subzero weather needed to be justified like it was their drunk uncle. Oddly enough, I didn’t really mind the cold, coming from Northern Michigan.

But now that it’s started to warm up, I can’t imagine ever turning back to those bitter cold days. Similar to Oslo, this place just changes when the sun is out. Everything looks different in this light.

The questionable bar I spent a few nights at, listening to 2000’s rock cover bands and drinking vodka cranberries, praying none of the “Saturday’s are For The Boys” fellows would take in interest in my group, now looks like a tropical oasis with their rooftop patio and open windows.

My neighborhood has resembled the aesthetic of the day-of-the-murder in The Lovely Bones basically since I moved here, but today it’s different. There are people. REAL PEOPLE walking by with puppies or riding their bikes and laughing.

I love being from the north. Having a fleeting summer forces you to have a different appreciation for nice weather. Staying inside and watching television is no longer an option. Perfect days are rare and should be treated accordingly.

Here are a few summer must-do’s that I need to have written down so when the yearning for a lazy day comes, I won’t have any excuses.

Get ice cream at Milk Jam

Take a one-time grill to Boom Island & cook weenies at dusk

Celebrate Swedish Midsommer

Learn and master four new songs on the guitar

Map out the perfect bike ride and spend the day adventuring

Stay up too late out on the porch drinking cheap wine in light from candles that are keeping the mosquitos at bay

Grill, grill, grill

Continue my hunt for “my favorite places” in Minneapolis

Go to block parties, specifically the Basilica Block Party

Have a bon fire

Meet at least three new friends

Avoid sunburn

Find a good lake for a beach day

Rent a kayak for a day

Alright y’all. There they are. Now I have no excuse for boredom this summer!

Side note – I have a hard time determining when summer actually begins now that I am not a student. I see that my college friends have started to get done with classes, so does that mean it’s summer NOW?

I refuse to wait until the summer solstice. I guess I’ll always view life through a student’s eyes – figuratively of course. No Jeepers Creepers non-sense here.

It still feels like my “new year” starts in September. Maybe a couple of years of profesh (lol) life will change that.

Seeing these summer goals written down has really sparked a fire in me. I am so excited to see what this city has to offer. Being a Freshman adult is the best and the worst, but I am thrilled to experience summer with real weekends for the first time since I was 15.

Stay tuned for how this summer actually pans out. God knows it won’t be anything like I plan it. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.